CONTRIBUTION TO THE NKOMAZI COMMUNITY TRUST

A special breakfast was held on Friday 26th October 2007 at the Mugg & Bean Coffee Shop in Eastgate to celebrate the handing over of the first donation to the Nkomazi Community Trust by the Gingerbread Foundation

The Gingerbread Foundation is the charity initiative started by the Mugg & Bean organisation which is funded through its customer loyalty card programme. The Nkomazi Community Trust has been appointed as the main beneficiary of the Foundation, and all funds it receives will be used for the sole benefit of the more than 5200 orphans & vulnerable children and their care-workers who live in the Nkomazi region in eastern Mpumalanga.

This special event was attended by senior executives of the Mugg & Bean organisation, trustees of the Gingerbread Foundation and Nkomazi Community Trust, and invited guests and staff from the Eastgate Mugg & bean fraternity.

In handing over a cheque for R325,000, Mike Maree, a founding partner of the Mugg & Bean organisation. paid tribute to the generosity and support his company had received from customers, franchisees and staff alike. Speaking on behalf of the Gingerbread Foundation, Mandla Madi stressed the importance of social entrepreneur initiatives such as these which brought benefit and relief to destitute communities. Having himself been educated in the Nkomazi region, the work being done by the Trust in this community is very close to his heart.

Receiving the cheque of behalf of the Nkomazi Community Trust, John Maxwell said that the Nkomazi region “epitomized one of the most devastated areas and communities in South Africa”. With an unemployment rate in excess of 80%, and more than 50% of the people infected with HIV and AIDS, that these funds will, he said, bring “life, hope and opportunity those with very little to live for”